In Maine, 'forever chemicals' are upending this family farm

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In Maine, 'forever chemicals' are upending this family farm
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The agriculture community is bracing for more cases as the state embarks on one of the nation’s most aggressive testing campaigns.

Johanna Davis and Adam Nordell stand outside of their house at Songbird Farm, an organic vegetable and grain farm they have operated in Unity since 2014.

The sign outside Songbird Farm, an organic farm in Unity that is the latest agricultural operation in Maine to be impacted by contamination with “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, potentially linked to sludge used as fertilizer decades ago. But PFAS have been linked to a long list of health problems, including cancer, kidney malfunction and low birth weight.

So far, PFAS contamination has shut down two dairy farms in Maine and prompted Songbird Farm to ask retailers to pull vegetables and grains from store shelves. The agriculture community is bracing for more cases, however, as the state embarks on one of the nation’s most aggressive testing campaigns. Maine has one of the country's youngest and fastest-growing farming communities. So the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association has been fielding calls from nervous farmers and trying to help them decipher decades-old DEP documents showing where sludge may, or may not, have been spread.

Johanna gave birth to their son three years ago, and the couple have spent tens of thousands of dollars on improvements, such as a vegetable washing and packing house, solar panels and a third greenhouse. Their latest investment was a new irrigation well just last year.

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